Accept no substitutes: Little Anthony & the Imperials are still making music with the original members of the group

by Sandy Posnak

Little Anthony and the Imperials have the distinction of being the only vocal group originating in the '50s that's currently performing with all the original members.

'Well, you know, we try to take care of ourselves. We all eat well, we exercise whenever we can, and we enjoy doing what we're doing,' explains the group's lead singer Anthony Gourdine.

Gourdine, better known as Little Anthony, spoke of his origin of the 'Little' moniker during a phone chat from New York before returning to his Rancho Palos Verdes, Calf. home following a series of East Coast concert dates.

'It was 1957 and the record 'Tears On My Pillow' had just been released by Anthony and the Imperials,' Gourdine explains. 'When legendary DJ Alan Freed played it, the 'Little Anthony' slipped out of his mouth and it stuck, so we went out and changed the record labels to Little Anthony and the Imperials. It was more because of the voice than my size. He hadn't met me, but he heard the falsetto, so I guess that's where the 'Little' came from.'

'Tears On My Pillow' became a Top 10 hit and the name stayed. Following the record's success, the only tears on the pillows of Gourdine and fellow group members Clarence Collins, Sammy Strain and Ernest Wright were tears of joy.

Little Anthony and the Imperials are now celebrating their 45th anniversary of award-winning success. Other chart-topping hits that followed the group's initial biggie include 'Shimmy, Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop,' 'I'm On the Outside Looking In,' and then their best chart years in 1964 and 1965 with 'Goin' Out of My Head' and 'Hurt So Bad.' 'Goin' Out of My Head' brought the group rock immortality selling 4 million copies for the Imperials, and going on to be covered hundreds of times.

'It's a song that comes along only every 20 or 30 years,' Gourdine said. 'A lot of people are going to be singing this song long after we're gone from this earth.'

In 1969, the group disbanded, with Gourdine going on to a solo career and Strain joining the O'Jays. The quartet reunited in 1992 and has been on the road since, playing to bigger and more enthusiastic crowds than ever.

Partially responsible for the groups' ongoing success, according to Gourdine, is that its members keep the act fresh with a song set that includes current material as well as their classics. 'We're playing new songs all the time, and we change our wardrobe now and then to keep it fresh.' Humorous patter between members between the songs add to the show along with their rhinestone-studded outfits. And their choreography is inspired and fun.

Gourdine added,'We just finished a new acappella CD of all the songs that were recorded by groups we've admired.' As writer Jim Full says in the CD's liner notes, 'What better way to appreciate those songs than in the acappella style that made people sit up and take notice of the human voice as an instrument. And what better group to put this collection together than Little Anthony and the Imperials, a group whose harmonies have been entertaining people for six consecutive decades!'

Little Anthony and the Imperials - accept no substitutes!